Council of Five Hundred

The Council of Five Hundred was the lower house of the legislature of the French Directory from 2 November 1795 to 10 November 1799. As the name suggests, it consisted of 500 representatives from across France, and the council was known for its corruption; in 1798, it annulled election results from 48 departments. The bickering council was overthrown by Napoleon Bonaparte in the Coup of 18 Brumaire in 1799, even though his own brother Lucien Bonaparte served as the council's president.